From overview Mondays to junk-food Fridays,
Oskar Peet and Sophie Mensen of OS 6 OOS
maintain a balance between work and private life.
Words
LAUREN GRACE MORRIS
Portrait
CINDY BAAR7.30 a.m.
OSKAR PEET: I’m always happy when I
hear Sophie switch on the coffee machine in
the morning. She gets up before me, but we
both like to take our time to have breakfast,
shower and start the day feeling relaxed.
9.00-9.30 a.m.
SOPHIE MENSEN: Our arrival time at the
studio depends on how busy we are and
what kinds of projects we have. Bruce, our
Irish terrier, needs to go out, so every morn-
ing we go for a short walk. If we have time,
we go to a nearby wooded area. That’s what’s
quite nice about Eindhoven. We’ve noticed
that conversations we have while walking
Bruce are quite different than those we have
at the studio – sitting down.
OP: We got him when we decided
to start working only for ourselves. In
the beginning, it was difficult to organize
the hours of the day. We were free to do
whatever we wanted, but it was hard to
create a rhythm. We were working really
crazy hours – 12, 13, 14 hours a day – before
we got Bruce. We still do sometimes, but he
makes sure we take a break.
10 a.m.
SM: Mondays we like to get an overview of
what needs to be done, to discuss our plan
for the week and divide tasks. Usually it’s
just the two of us, unless we need a pair of
hands to help with production. The major-
ity of the products are made and assembled
in the studio, which is in an old Philips
building that’s almost four storeys high,
with 12-m-high ceilings. Our studio consists
of an office and a shared workshop area.
12.30 p.m.
OP: A sandwich gets posted on WhatsApp,
and everybody migrates over to the studio
next door, which has become a sort of
lunch hall. We always lunch together with
our neighbours, like Mieke Meijer and Roy
Letterlé of Studio Mieke Meijer and Rene
Vullings of Studio Maatwerk.
2-7 p.m.
SM: Every day at the studio is different from
the day before. That’s what I like about it.
Better
Together
OP: Production starts with a concept. We
know the storyline, but we might not know
exactly what we want to make. We begin by
sketching and gradually end up with an actual
product. Its functionality is determined by the
material we use. Does it need to be strong? To
be light? To be painted?
SM: If we’re doing an interior, like
those we’ve been designing for Ace & Tate,
the process is pretty intensive. Turnaround
time can be very quick – sometimes a store
needs to be done within two weeks. In such
concentrated periods we work a lot, getting
samples together and talking to manufactur-
ers about the unique features we’re designing
for the space, because every store has to
be different.
OP: Before Ace & Tate, we hadn’t
done spatial design. The brand originally
reached out to us because they wanted to
use our Mono-Lights. Then they found out
that we do a lot more.7 p.m.
SM: Time to wind down. In the past, we
didn’t really have an exact closing time. I have
a tendency to work through the whole day,
but Oskar doesn’t.
OP: If it’s really busy, we go home to
eat around seven for a change of scenery. It’s
easier in the summer, because it’s still light
outside, and we can hang out in the garden
before returning to the studio with a clear
head and tackling another few hours. There
are always exceptions, of course, when we’re
at the studio until two in the morning.8 p.m.
OP: Sophie’s been diving into her cookbooks,
but every Friday I make Mexican fajitas. It’s
a tradition that started in my native country,
Canada, where my brother [designer Lukas
Peet] and I came up with the idea of a junk-
food Friday.
SM: I try to be active at least three
evenings of the week. I take the dog out for
a run, and on Thursdays I go rowing.
OP: In the winter, unfortunately, we sit
in front of the television watching good indie
films. We’ve been thinking about getting an
outdoor fireplace – a cowboy TV!
Next project.11 p.m.
OP: Sophie usually goes to bed before I do. I’m
more of a night owl. I have a couple of hobbies
that keep me up late, like restoring and fixing
up motorcycles. It’s something that produces
immediate results, which is nice. Sophie rides
as well. We take big trips a couple times of year
in the mountains of Switzerland. ●12.30 a.m.
OP: Now it’s bedtime for me, too.OS 6 OOS will continue to design Ace & Tate stores
as the brand expands its presence across Europe.
Openings to look out for include Edinburgh, Liverpool
and London, as well as locations in Belgium
osandoos.comA DAY WITH 63